E 

78 
II8W7 


BANCROFT 
LIBRARY 

0- 

THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 


f  <~ 


THE    NAMPA     IMAGE: 


CORRESPONDENCE    RELATING    TO    ITS    DISCOVERY   WITH    EX 
PLANATORY  COMMENTS,  ETC. 


[From  the  PROCEEDINGS  OF  THE  BOSTON  SOCIETY  OK  NATURAL  HISTORY.' 
VOL.  xxiv,  1889.] 


From  the  PROCEEDINGS  OF  THE  BOSTON  SOCIETY  OF  NATURAL  HISTORY, 
VOL.  xxiv,  1889.] 


GENERAL  MEETING,  JANUARY  1,  1890. 

The  President,  Prof.  F.  W.  PUTNAM,  in  the  chair. 

The  President  announced  that  the  evening  would  be  devoted  to 
a  discussion  of  the  Climatic  Condition  of  the  Glacial  Period  to  be 
considered  in  relation  to  the  existence  of  man  at  that  time. 

He  called  upon  Prof.  G.  Frederick  Wright,  who  had  obtained 
important  information  in  relation  to  the  "  Nampa  Image,"  to  open 
the  discussion. 

Professor  Wright  read  letters  relating  to  the  Nampa  Image, 
which  Are  given  below,  and  spoke  of  the  probable  climatic  condi 
tions  at  the  time  of  the  deposition  of  the  deposits  from  which  the 
image  was  obtained. 

THE  NAMPA  IMAGE. 


View  from  front,  back  and  side  (natural  size). 

Professor  Wright  said  :  I  can  best  perform  my  duty  to  the  public 
in  reference  to  the  image  found  by  Mr.  M.  A.  Kurtz  of  Nampa, 
Idaho,  by  simply  submitting  the  entire  correspondence  respecting  7~ /??  h/*/* 

(424) 


5KT 


Wright.]  425  [Jan.  1, 

it,  with  sucli  connecting  comments  as  may  be  necessary  for  expla 
nation.  The  subject  was  first  brought  to  my  notice  by  the  follow 
ing  letter  from  Mr.  Charles  Francis  Adams,  president  of  the  Union 
Pacific  Railroad. 

Boston,  Sept.  8,  1889. 
PROFESSOR  G.  F.  WRIGHT,  Oberlin,  Ohio. 

MY  DEAR  SIR  : 

During  a  recent  trip  to  Alaska  I  was  greatly  interested  in 
your  book  on  the  Ice  Age  of  America^  After  my  return,  and  while 
the  subject  was  still  fresh  in  my  mind,  I  had  occasion  to  stop  for 
a  few  hours  with  the  party  which  accompanied  me  at  Boise  City, 
in  Idaho.  While  there  I  heard  various  references  made  to  a  curious 
clay  image,  evidently  the  work  of  human  hands,  which  had  recently 
been  found  while  boring  for  artesian  water. 

As  you  are  aware,  this  is  a  lava  region,  and  the  image  in  ques 
tion  was  found  at  a  depth  of  some  three  hundred  and  twenty  feet 
below  the  surface. 

The  day  after  the  image  was  thrown  up  by  the  borer,  Mr.  dim 
ming,  the  general  manager  of  the  Union  Pacific  lines  in  that  dis 
trict,  chanced  to  be  in  Boise  City,  and  saw  it.  Mr.  Gumming  is  a 
graduate  of  Harvard  College,  and  a  thoroughly  trained  man..  His 
evidence  I  should  take  as  conclusive  in  regard  to  the  facts.  Think 
ing  the  matter  may  be  of  interest  to  you,  I  send  you  the  inclosed 
memorandum  in  relation  to  this  image.  It  was  taken  down  by  me 
on  the  spot  while  examining  the  image,  which  is  now  in  the  pos 
session  of  Mr.  M.  A.  Kurtz,  of  Nampa,  Idaho,  who  picked  it  up 
when  thrown  out  of  the  pipe. 

Yours,  etc., 

CHARLES  F.  ADAMS. 

MEMORANDUM  OF    IMAGE  FOUND    AT  NAMPA,    IDAHO. 

Material,  baked  clay ;  size,  about  an  inch  and  a  half  long ;  un 
mistakably  made  by  human*  beings. 

It  was  found  about  the  first  of  August,  1889,  at  Nampa,  in  Ada 
County,  Idaho,  under  the  following  circumstances  : 

M.  A.  Kurtz  was  engaged  in  boring  an  artesian  well.  The  image 
was  brought  to  the  surface  through  the  pipe  in  the  usual  way  among 
some  heavy,  coarse  sand,  from  a  depth  of  three  hundred  and  twenty 
feet  from  the  surface. 


1890.]  426  [Wright. 

The  different  strata  which  had  been  bored  through  were  as  fol 
lows : 

Sixty  feet  of  soil. 

Twelve  to  fifteen  feet  of  lava  rock. 

One  hundred  feet  of  quicksand. 

Six  inches  of  clay. 

Forty  feet  of  quicksand. 

Six  feet  of  clay. 

Thirty  feet  of  quicksand. 

Twelve  to  fifteen  feet  of  clay. 

Then  clay  balls  mixed  with  sand. 

Then  coarse  sand  in  which  the  image  came  up. 

Then  vegetable  soil. 

Then  the  original  sandstone. 

Upon  receipt  of  this  letter,  I  at  once  requested  to  be  put  in  com 
munication  with  Mr.  Kurtz,  and  upon  receiving  a  letter  from  Mr. 
Adams  introducing  me  to  him,  immediately  wrote  Mr.  Kurtz  making 
inquiries  about  the  general  aspect  of  the  country,  and  requesting 
a  photograph  of  the  image.  The  following  letter  is  his  reply. 

Nampa,  Idaho  Territory,  Sept.  27,  1889. 
PROF.  G.  F.  WRIGHT. 
DEAR  SIR  : 

In  reply  to  your  favor  of  the  23rd  inst.  I  would  submit  the 
following : 

1.  The  elevation  of  Boise  City  is  about  2875  feet  and  Nampa 
nearly  2,500.  Boise  City  is  on  an  air  line  twenty  miles  from  Nampa 
in  a  northeasterly  direction. 

2.  The  nearest  point  to  the  Boise  river  is  seven  miles.     The 
foot  hills  begin  from  one-half  to  two  miles  from  the  river  and  it  is 
some  seventy-five  miles  to  the  top  of  the  range. 

The  nearest  point  to  the  Snake  river  is  twelve  miles,  the  foot 
hills  skirt  the  river  bank.  It  is  fifty  miles  to  the  top  of  the  range 
from  Nampa. 

3.  The  valley  from  Boise  City  due  south  to  the  Snake  river  is 
about  thirty-five  miles  and  from  our  place  about  twenty  miles.  From 
Boise  City  to  the  junction  of  the  Boise  and  Snake  rivers  fifty-five 
miles.     The  valley  that  forms  the  Boise  river  bottom  is  from  two 
to  five  miles  in  width  and  its  formation  is  a  sandy  gravel,  is  very 


Wright.]  427  [Jan.l, 

productive  and  sub-irrigates.  The  foot  lulls  show  some  signs  of 
lava.  The  first  plateau  is  some  sixty  feet  higher  than  the  river, 
from  five  to  eight  miles  in  width,  is  a  rich,  sandy  loam  soil  with  strata 
of  heavy  gravel  and  bowlders  underlying  it  at  a  depth  of  from  ten 
to  thirty  feet.  It  contains  several  dry  creeks  with  sandy  bottoms, 
but  which  contain  plenty  of  water  at  a  depth  of  from  two  to  four 
feet.  These  creeks  rise  at  the  foot  of  the  mountain  range  more 
than  one  hundred  miles  east  of  here  and  flow  through  the  second 
plateau. 

The  second  plateau  is  some  thirty  feet  above  the  first  and  em 
braces  the  balance  of  the  valley.  The  soil  same  as  first  and  extends 
to  the  lava  flow  which  seems  to  be  uniform  at  a  depth  of  say  sixty- 
five  feet ;  it  sometimes  contains  a  heavy  coarse  sand.  This  plateau 
is  much  broken  with  hilly  elevations  of  lava  rock,  which  contains 
caves  and  dark  subterranean  passages,  that  are  full  of  strong  cur 
rents  of  air. 

4.  We  found  no  evidence  of  bowlders  anywhere.  I  will  inclose 
with  the  image  some  of  the  pebbles  taken  out  at  different  times, 
although  we  did  not  find  any  deposit  of  them.  The  large  clay  ball 
may  be  of  some  interest  to  you,  it  stuck  to  the  bottom  of  the  sand 
pump ;  it  and  many  of  the  smaller  ones  were  found  about  the  same 
time  as  the  image  and  on  top  of  the  primitive  formation.  We  have 
no  means  here  of  having  the  image  photographed  so  I  will  send  it 
by  express,  hoping  it  will  interest  you.  Please  examine  and  at 
your  earliest  convenience  return  to  me.  The  image  was  dropped 
and  the  head  broken  and  we  fastened  it  on  as  well  as  we  could. 

Any  further  information  I  can  give  will  be  cheerfully  given. 

Very  respectfully  yours, 

M.  A.  KURTZ. 

Upon  receipt  of  this  I  addressed  another  letter  to  Mr.  Kurtz  to 
draw  out  from  him  such  explicit  statements  as  should  enable  us  to 
determine  whether  or  not  the  image  might  have  fallen  in  from  the 
top,  or  been  thrown  in  by  some  bystander.  The  letter  of  October 
llth  answers  these  inquiries.  I  would  add  that  the  "  clay  balls" 
referred  to  which  came  up  in  the  pump  are  larger  than  the  image, 
and  equally  fragile.  They  seem  as  I  remember  them  to  be  of  the 
same  material  with  the  image,  but  were  coated  over  with  a  film  of 
oxide  of  iron. 


1890.]  428  [Wright. 

Nampa,  Idaho  Ter.,  Oct.  11,  1889. 
PROP.  G.  F.  WRIGHT. 
DEAR  SIR  : 

Your  letter  of  the  fifth  at  hand  and  contents  noted.  In  re 
ply  would  say  that  the  well  is  tubed  with  a  heavy  six-inch  pipe 
from  the  top  and  any  light  substance  thrown  in  would  float  on  the 
water  and  be  ground  to  pieces  by  the  sand  pump. 

We  had  been  getting  some  of  the  clay  balls  and  the  character 
of  the  sand  was  changing.  I  had  been  at  the  well  for  several  days 
and  ran  the  contents  of  the  sand  pump  through  my  hand  as  it  was 
pumped  out.  I  had  the  clay  image  in  my  hand  and  supposed  it 
was  a  twig.  I  dipped  it  into  a  barrel  of  water  standing  near, 
washed  it  oft'  and  saw  at  once  what  it  was. 

Mr.  Duffes,  a  prominent  citizen  of  our  town,  happened  to  be 
standing  by  and  saw  it  all.  The  driller  and  helper  were  the  only 
other  persons  present.  If  convenient  for  you,  I  would  be  glad  to 
have  a  brief  opinion  from  you  as  to  your  idea  of  it. 

Yours,  very  truly, 

M.  A.  KURTZ. 

My  third  letter  to  Mr.  Kurtz  answered  his  inquiry  about  the 
possible  conditions  under  which  the  image  may  have  been  buried,  in 
which  I  suggested  that  an  overflow  of  lava  in  the  lower  part  of  the 
Snake  river  may  have  obstructed  the  water  so  as  to  make  a  tem 
porary  lake,  in  the  vicinity  of  Nampa,  which  was  filled  with  sedi 
ment,  perhaps  from  melting  glaciers  in  the  head  waters  of  the  river 
near  Yellowstone  Park,  and  that  subsequently  a  lava  overflow 
had  occurred  near  Nampa  and  so  sealed  the  whole  up.  I  also 
asked  more  particularly  about  the  mode  of  drilling  the  well  and 
about  the  size  of  the  pump.  The  letter  of  the  twenty-first  is  his 
reply. 

The  image  itself  has  been  submitted  to  Profs.  H.  W.  Haynes 
and  F.  W.  Putnam,  with  what  results  they  can  answer  for  them 
selves. 

Nampa,  Idaho,  Oct.  21,  1889. 
PROF.  G.  F.  WRIGHT. 

DEAR  SIR: 

Your  kind  favor  of  the  sixteenth  just  received.  We  did 
not  use  the  drill  after  we  went  through  the  lava  rock.  With  our 


Wright.]  429  [Jan.l, 

machinery  we  had  a  fishing  tool  with  jars  and  the  party  drilling 
the  well  welded  a  piece  of  sharp,  broad  iron  on  the  bottom  of  it 
which  he  used  only  when  in  the  clay.  The  sand  pump  with  the 
coupling  at  the  top  is  a  little  over  five  inches  in  the  chamber.  The 
sand  pump  proper  is  4tj-  inches  on  the  outside  and  the  valve  is 
about  3£  inches  on  the  inside.  Anything  put  in  from  the  top 
would  have  floated  on  top  of  the  water  and  been  ground  to  powder 
by  the  action  of  the  sand  pump.  If  there  is  any  way  to  remove 
the  implied  doubt  in  your  letter  as  to  the  genuineness  of  the  im 
age  please  inform  me.  You  can  have  the  affidavits  of  the  only  four 
persons  present,  any  time  you  may  think  them  necessary. 

The  obstruction  noted  in  your  comments  in  the  lower  part  of  the 
valley  are  not  difficult  to  trace,  and  a  gentleman  of  some  scien 
tific  information  and  well  informed  as  to  this  country  made  a  state 
ment  to  me  several  months  ago  that  this  wash  or  fill  in  the  valley 
had  occurred  since  the  Spanish  conquest  of  Mexico  and  that  it  was 
a  matter  of  record. 

Hoping  to  hear  from  you  again,  I  am, 

Yours  very  truly, 

M.  A.  KURTZ. 

In  order  to  get  information  in  regard  to  the  geological  horizon 
of  the  beds  from  which  the  image  was  taken  I  made  inquiries  of 
Prof.  S.  F.  Emmons  and  received  the  following  reply. 

Department  of  the  Interior, 
United  States  Geological  Survey. 

Washington,  D.  (7.,  Oct.  21,  1889. 
PROF.  G.  F.  WRIGHT. 

DEAR  SIR  : 

My  reply  to  your  letter  of  Oct.  9,  asking  information  with 
regard  to  the  geological  horizon  of  the  beds,  from  which  the  image 
from  Nampa,  Idaho,  is  said  to  have  been  obtained,  has  been  de 
layed  from  day  to  day  in  the  hopes  that  I  might  obtain  additional 
information  either  by  records  or  personal  communications  from 
fellow  geologists  that  would  supplement  the  rather  meagre  data 
which  I  myself  possess.  As  I  have  as  yet  been  unable  to  obtain 
any  further  knowledge  on  the  subject,  I  must  needs  content  my 
self  with  the  surmises  I  was  able  to  make  during  a  visit  of  a  few 


1890.]  430  [Wright. 

days  to  the  Boise  region,  in  the  summer  of  1887,  made  for  the  pur 
pose  of  looking  into  the  merits  of  a  scheme  for  diverting  the  wa 
ters  of  the  Boise  river  at  a  point  about  ten  miles  above  Boise  city, 
where  it  emerges  from  the  Upper  Boise  basin  through  a  canon  in 
the  basalt,  so  as  to  irrigate  a  triangular  area  of  country  between 
Boise  and  Snake  rivers,  some  fifty  miles  in  length  from  the  junc 
tion  of  these  rivers  southeastward,  and  thirty  miles  wide  at  its  base 
or  southeastern  end.  To  the  engineers  of  the  Irrigation  Company, 
Messrs.  A.  D.  Foote  and  C.  H.  Tompkins,  jr.,  I  am  indebted  for 
valuable  topographical  data  with  regard  to  this  area. 

Nampa,  where  the  boring  was  made  from  which  the  image  is  said 
to  have  been  obtained,  is  a  station  on  the  Oregon  Short  Line  R.  R. 
about  midway  in  this  area  and,  as  you  state,  about  twelve  miles 
north  of  the  Snake  river  and  seven  miles  south  of  the  Boise  river. 
It  was  obtained,  you  tell  me,  from  a  bed  of  coarse  sand  320  feet 
below  the  surface  after  passing  through  beds  of  quicksand  divided 
by  thin  beds  of  clay  and  one  bed  of  lava  ten  to  fifteen  feet  thick, 
and  below  this  coarse  sand  was  found  vegetable  soil  and  then  what 
is  described  as  the  "  original  sandstone." 

My  experience  with  data  given  by  persons  sinking  drill  holes  as 
to  the  material  passed  through  leads  me  to  accept  with  consider 
able  reserve  the  descriptive  names  they  give  to  this  material  unless 
I  have  an  opportunity  of  verifying  it  by  personal  observation,  yet 
those  given  by  you  accord  very  well  with  the  general  idea  I  was  able 
to  form  of  the  material  underlying  the  Boise  region.  Stream  ero 
sion  has  been  very  slight  in  this  region,  and  its  topographical  form, 
characterized  by  a  succession  of  broad,  level  terraces  descending 
in  gentle  steps,  shows  that  it  is  underlain  by  practically  horizontal 
deposits  of  recent  age.  Owing  partly  to  the  character  of  the  ero 
sion  and  partly  to  the  loose,  crumbly  nature  of  the  beds  themselves 
no  good  cliff  exposures  were  found  where  I  could  obtain  a  continu 
ous  section  of  these  beds.  The  important  point  in  the  section, 
namely,  whether  the  definition  of  the  lowest  stratum,  as  vegetable 
soil,  is  well  taken  or  not,  it  would  have  been  impossible  to  verify, 
since  it  must  be  at  a  lower  level  than  the  beds  of  either  the  Snake 
or  Boise  rivers  at  any  point  within  the  region. 

I  could  see  that  the  basin,  in  which  these  beds  were  deposited, 
extended  for  a  considerable  distance  to  the  south  and  west,  but  to 
the  north  it  was  bounded  by  a  mountainous  country  not  far  beyond 
the  Boise  river.  As  to  how  far  it  extended  eastward  toward  the 


Wright.]  431  [Jan.  1, 

great  lava  plains  of  the  Snake  river  I  could  form  no  idea,  since 
unfortunately  both  eastward  and  westward-going  trains  pass  over 
that  country  in  the  night. 

On  the  banks  of  the  Boise  river,  just  below  where  it  emerges 
from  the  canon  I  observed  that  the  gravels,  which  form  the  first 
bench  to  the  south  of  the  river,  rest  on  an  eroded,  white  sandstone, 
which  might  correspond  to  the  "•  original  sandstone"  struck  at  the 
bottom  of  the  drill  hole  and  form  part  of  the  bottom  of  the  lake  in 
which  these  beds  were  deposited  ;  this  assumes  a  descent  of  about 
700  feet  in  twenty  miles  giving  a  rather  unusual  but  not  impossible 
slope  to  the  bed  of  the  lake,  and  makes  it  probable  that  the  canon 
of  the  Boise  is  near  the  northern  shore  line  of  this  lake. 

I  had  been  unable  to  find  any  fossil  evidence  of  the  age  of  these 
beds,  but  on  other  grounds  had  assumed  that  they  were  late  Ter 
tiary  or  early  Quaternary.  They  had  a  younger  appearance  than 
the  pliocene  deposits  of  Nevada,  and  on  the  other  hand  looked 
older  in  some  respects  than  the  Quaternary  deposits  of  Lakes 
Bonneville  and  Lahontan. 

The  character  of  the  Snake  river  valley  in  this  region  was  of 
special  significance  to  me.  Instead  of  meandering  to  and  fro  in  a 
broad  alluvial  bottom  with  large  cottonwood  trees  along  its  banks, 
as  is  usually  the  case  with  such  large  streams,  it  runs  in  a  compar 
atively  straight  course  through  a  slightly  rolling  sage  bush  country, 
filling  its  bed  from  bank  to  bank  with  a  swift,  deep,  turbid  stream, 
with  only  a  scanty  growth  of  young  willows  along  its  shores,  which 
are  being  constantly  undermined  and  carried  away.  This,  to  me, 
was  an  evidence  that,  at  some  point  below  this,  its  bed  had  been 
lowered  in  recent  geological  time  by  the  breaking  of  some  barrier 
that  had  formerly  held  it  back,  and  that  it  was  now  rapidly  cutting 
back  and  deepening  its  bed  in  an  endeavor  to  reach  a  baselevel  of 
erosion.  Its  slope  from  the  base  of  the  mountains  in  eastern  Idaho 
is  very  rapid  for  so  large  a  river.  It  lias  not  been  surveyed  so  Unit 
it  cannot  be  accurately  determined,  but  if  it  ran  in  a  straight  line 
its  descent  would  be  ten  feet  to  the  mile,  and,  as  its  course 
through  the  lava  beds  is  generally  direct,  it  can  hardly  be  less  than 
seven  or  eight  feet,  making  allowance  for  its  meanderings  and  the 
falls  it  passes  over.  Of  these  there  are  several,  the  greatest  being 
the  Shoshone  Falls  which  are  212  feet  high. 

It  is  also  significant  that  after  its  junction  with  the  Boise  river 
it  bends  abruptly  and  runs  due  north  for  about  250  miles,  leaving 


1890.]  432  [Wriffht. 

the  open  country,  which  stretches  westward  through  southern  Idaho 
and  Oregon  to  the  base  of  the  Cascade  mountains,  to  make  its  way 
through  the  more  mountainous  region  at  the  east  base  of  the  Blue 
mountains  around  which  it  flows.  I  know  of  no  scientific  explo 
rations  of  this  portion  of  the  Snake  valley,  and  the  Oregon  Short 
Line  Railroad  avoids  it  by  crossing  the  Blue  mountains,  but  the 
accounts  of  earlier  explorers  represent  the  mountain  ridges  as  com 
ing  close  to  the  river,  and  the  latter  as  running  through  precipitous 
canons  deeper  and  more  inaccessible  than  those  of  the  lava  plains 
of  the  Upper  Snake  valley.  It  seems  probable  that  the  cutting 
down  of  some  barrier  in  this  northern  course — very  likely  as  you 
suggest  some  lava  flow  that  stretched  across  its  valley — would  ac 
count  for  its  present  relatively  rapid  slope. 

The  so-called  placer  bars  which  are  found  along  its  present  course, 
often  considerably  higher  than  the  present  stream,  not  only  in  this 
region,  but  at  various  points  above,  also  point  to  a  recent  rapid 
deepening  of  its  bed.  They  carry  gold  in  an  extremely  fine  state 
of  division  and  their  material  is  generally  much  finer  than  the  or 
dinary  placer  gravel,  containing  but  few  pebbles  and  these  not  en 
tirely  of  quartz  but  sometimes  of  slate.  They  have  evidently  been 
brought  from  the  mountains  to  the  eastward  at  a  much  higher  stage 
of  the  river,  where  its  stream  was  ledger  and  more  rapid  than  at 
present. 

The  Nampa  beds  are,  however,  older  than  these  gold-bearing 
gravels  and  probably  older  than  the  ancient  gravels  of  the  Upper 
Boise  basin  at  the  southwest  base  of  the  Sawtooth  mountains,  which 
Mr.  Becker,  in  his  report  on  precious  metals  for  the  tenth  census, 
compares  with  the  deep  gravels  of  California,  from  the  fossil  plants 
which  they  contain,  from  their  great  depth  of  250  feet,  and  because 
they  are  said  to  be  capped  by  basalt  flows.  I  did  not  visit  this  basin 
but  assume  that  the  gravels  are  younger  than  the  Nampa  beds  be 
cause  of  the  higher  levels  which  they  occupy.  I  must  confess  that 
at  present  I  see  no  evidence  which  would  decide  whether  the  Nam 
pa  beds  are  late  Tertiary  or  early  Quaternary  except  that  furnished 
by  the  drill  hole,  which  if  authentic  would  be  in  favor  of  the  latter. 
To  the  west  of  this  region  in  southern  Oregon,  and  along  the  Des- 
chutes  and  John  Day  valleys  at  the  east  base  of  the  Cascades,  both 
Pliocene  and  Quaternary  deposits  are  found.  The  latter  in  the 
Harney  lake  and  Christmas  lake  basins  are  at  a  much  higher  level 
2 


Wright.]  433  [Jan.l, 

than  these  being  500  to  1000  feet  above  the  lava  plains  of  the 
Snake  river. 

The  fact  that  basaltic  lava  flows  cover  these  beds  is  not  decisive 
for  either  age.  In  the  valleys  of  eastern  Idaho,  whence  come  some 
of  the  tributaries  of  the  Snake,  basaltic  lavas  both  of  Tertiary  and 
of  Quaternary  age  occur.  Some  of  the  latter  fill  present  valley 
bottoms,  extending  up  a  short  distance  into  the  mouths  of  side 
canons  in  the  adjoining  ridges.  These  flows  have  had  some  influ 
ence  upon  the  direction  of  the  present  drainage,  and  it  seems  prob 
able  that  before  their  eruption  the  Bear  river  flowed  through  the 
Portneuf  valley  into  the  Snake  river,  instead  of  into  Salt  Lake  as 
it  does  now. 

Gilbert  has  shown  that  Lake  Bonneville,  the  quaternary  tenant 
of  the  Salt  Lake  valleys,  once  overflowed  into  the  Snake  river,  but 
whether  this  overflow  was  contemporaneous  with  the  existence  of 
the  lake  in  which  the  Nampa  beds  were  deposited,  or  accompanied 
the  freshets  which  brought  down  the  Snake  river  gold-bearing  grav 
els,  only  a  systematic  study  of  the  whole  Snake  river  region  can 
finally  determine.  Such  a  study  ought  to  establish  the  time  rela 
tions  of  the  Bonneville  and  Nampa  beds,  and  a  still  more  definite 
determination  of  the  age  of  the  latter  might  be  afforded  by  a  care 
ful  study  of  the  canon  of  the  Snake  river  below  Shoshone  Falls, 
and  by  a  tracing  of  the  upper  limits  of  the  lake  in  which  the  Nampa 
beds  were  deposited,  and  the  relation  of  the  Nampa  beds  to  the 
last  basaltic  overflow  of  the  Snake  river  plains.  In  a  visit  to  the 
Shoshone  Falls,  in  1868,  Mr.  Clarence  King  found  that  the  river 
above  the  falls  runs  in  a  canon  about  four  hundred  feet  deep  cut  in 
the  upper  sheet  of  basalt  which  covers  the  present  surface  of  these 
plains,  but  that  the  canon  below  the  falls  discloses  an  underlying 
mass  of  trachyte  or  andesite,  which  is  probably  of  much  earlier 
date.  If,  as  seems  not  improbable,  the  basalt  flows  which  cover 
the  Nampa  beds  in  the  Boise  region  were  contemporaneous  with 
those  which  cover  the  Snake  plains  in  the  vicinity  of  Shoshone 
Falls,  at  some  point  in  the  canon  of  the  Snake  river  these  beds  will 
be  found  resting  on  the  underlying  trachyte  or  andesite  body,  and 
separating  it  from  the  overlying  basalt  flow.  It  will  then  be  proved 
that  the  cutting  of  the  canon  of  the  Snake  river  below  the  surface 
of  the  basalt  flows  has  been  accomplished  since  the  drainage  of  the 
Nampa  lake,  and  it  will  only  remain  to  estimate  the  time  required 


1890.]  434  [Wright. 

for  the  cutting  of  the  present  canon  of  the  Snake  river  through 
these  lava  flows,  by  the  rate  of  recession  of  the  various  falls. 

While  I  am,  as  you  see,  unable  to  give  any  definite  estimate  of 
the  age  of  the  beds  from  which  the  image  is  supposed  to  have  been 
derived,  I  regard  them  as  probably  of  far  greater  antiquity  than 
any  deposits  in  which  human  implements  have  hitherto  been  dis 
covered.  If,  as  I  am  now  inclined  to  think,  they  antedate  the 
cutting  of  the  present  canon  of  the  Snake  river  through  the  great 
lava  plains,  their  antiquity  at  once  becomes  very  great,  as  is  shown 
by  a  comparison  of  the  conditions  which  prevail  there  with  those 
of  the  Niagara  river,  whose  rate  of  recession  has  been  so  closely 
determined.  The  gorge  of  the  Niagara  has  been  cut  through  lime 
stone  and  shale  for  seven  miles  to  a  depth  of  not  over  three  hundred 
feet.  The  Snake  river  from  its  entrance  into  the  lava  fields  at  Amer 
ican  Falls  to  Shoshone  Falls,  a  distance  of  one  hundred  to  one  hun 
dred  and  twenty  miles,  has  cut  a  gorge  in  hard  basalt  from  seventy 
to  four  hundred  feet  deep,  and  below  Shoshone  Falls,  for  an  un 
known  distance,  a  gorge  six  hundred  feet  deep  in  similar  material. 

In  the  present  state  of  our  knowledge  I  find  it  difficult  to  insti 
tute  any  comparison  whatever  between  these  deposits  and  the  gold- 
bearing  gravels  underlying  the  lava  flows  of  California.  Compar 
ison  between  so  widely  separated  regions  are  hypothetical,  unless 
based  on  such  an  intimate  knowledge  of  the  geological  structure 
of  the  intermediate  region  as  can  hardly  be  arrived  at  in  the  pres 
ent  generation.  That  instituted  by  Mr.  Becker  with  the  gravels  of 
the  Upper  Boise  basin  has  a  slight  basis  of  probability  if  his  prem 
ises  are  reliable,  but  the  connection  between  these  and  the  Nampa 
beds  remains  yet  to  be  determined. 

Regretting  that  I  am  not  able  to  give  a  more  satisfactory  answer 
to  your  question,  I  am 

Very  sincerely  yours, 

S.  F.  EMMONS. 

In  reply  to  a  letter  requesting  through  Mr.  Kurtz  a  statement 
from  Mr.  Duffes,  and  making  other  inquiries,  I  received  the  follow 
ing  : 

Nampa,  Idaho  Ter.,  November  7,  1889. 
PROF.  G.  F.  WRIGHT. 
DEAR  SIR  : 

Yours  of  Nov.  2,  just  received.    I  enclose  letter  from  Mr. 
Duffes  as  requested. 


Wright.]  435  [Jan.  1, 

When  the  head  of  the  image  was  broken  off  I  took  my  knife  and 
cut  into  it  between  the  shoulders  in  order  to  stick  the  head  on 
again. 

The  head  was  not  touched  at  all  with  the  knife,  but  head  and 
face  are  just  as  they  were  when  taken  from  the  sand. 

I  shall  be  very  glad  of  the  half  dozen  photographs  you  speak 
of  sending,  and  any  further  information  I  can  give  will  be  given 

with  pleasure. 

Very  truly  yours, 

M.   A.  KURTZ. 

Nampa,  Idaho,  Nov.  7,  1889. 
M.  A.  KURTZ,  ESQ. 
DEAR  SIR  : 

In  reply  to  your  inquiry  of  this  date  in  regard  to  the  facts 
as  regards  the  finding  of  the  "Baby  image"  in  the  Nampa  Arte 
sian  well,  I  beg  to  state  the  following : 

I  was  present  at  the  well  along  with  yourself  and  saw  you  pick 
it  out  of  the  sand  as  it  was  discharged  from  the  sand  pump. 

There  were  no  others  present  except  two  men  attending  the  en 
gine  and  sand  pump.  And  they  could  not  by  any  means  get  it 
into  the  place  where  found,  and  were  just  as  much  astonished  as 
ourselves  at  seeing  the  find.  These  are  the  facts  of  the  case,  to 
which  I  hereby  certify,  trusting  this  will  thoroughly  quiet  all  doubts. 

I  am  yours  truly, 

ALEX.  DUFFES. 

It  having  been  suggested  that  the  image  might  have  been  inserted 
in  the  pump  during  the  night,  Mr.  Kurtz  wrote  me  again  in  an 
swer  to  inquiries  as  follows  : 

Nampa,  Idaho  Ter.,  Nov.  18,  1889. 
PROF.  G.  FREDERICK  WRIGHT. 

DEAR  SIR  : 

Your  favor  of  thirteenth  inst.  reed,  this  morning.  I  fear  lean- 
not  answer  it  satisfactorily.  We  paid  no  attention  to  the  different 
strata  more  than  to  make  a  note  of  them,  and  all  was  dumped  on 
one  pile.  Much  of  the  dirt  was  hauled  away  in  wagons,  and  the 
school  children  made  it  a  play  ground  for  some  time  so  it  is  im 
possible  to  comply  with  your  request. 

All  the  specimens  I  send  you  to-day  came  out  of  the  well  ex- 


1890.]  436  [Wright. 

cept  the  lava  rock  which  came  from  a  well  they  are  now  blasting 
some  three  blocks  from  the  artesian  well  and  must  be  of  the  same 
character. 

You  will  readily  understand  that  with  the  heavy  bit  we  used, 
ours  came  out  of  the  well  only  in  black  powder  and  none  of  it  was 
saved,  neither  was  the  vegetable  soil,  but  was  poured  out  with  the 
rest.  It  impregnated  the  water  so  that  it  was  of  a  stringy  nature, 
very  dark  or  deep  brownish  color.  The  package  of  sand  marked 
from  the  bottom  of  the  well  may  or  may  not  be  from  that  partic 
ular  place,  but  I  selected  it  from  what  I  think  came  up  last.  I  can 
not  tell  from  what  particular  place  in  the  well  the  clay  and  other 
sand  package  came. 

In  order  to  handle  the  pipes  we  dug  a  regular  well,  about  twenty- 
ilve  feet  deep.  The  coarse  gravel  and  hard  pan  are  out  of  that  por 
tion  of  the  well  and  from  under  the  surface  from  six  to  twenty  feet. 

The  pieces  of  clay  I  had  to  pick  up  from  the  sand,  and  you  un 
derstand  it  has  all  been  exposed  to  the  weather  from  three  months 
to  one  year. 

The  person  who  suggested  to  you  that  it  might  have  been  put  in 
the  sand  pump  never  saw  one  or  he  would  know  that  one  descent 
of  the  jars  would  have  ground  it  into  powder. 

I  found  the  image  between  eleven  and  twelve  o'clock  in  the 
morning.  I  had  handled  almost  every  pumpful  of  sand  for  several 
days,  as  the  driller  expected  to  strike  sandstone  at  any  moment. 

I  was  sent  here  three  years  ago  by  P.  P.  Shelby,  then  assistant 
general  manager  of  the  Union  Pacific  R.  R.  to  investigate  the  coun 
try.  I  did  so.  He  then  employed  me  to  go  east  and  deliver  a  series 
of  lectures  on  Idaho  in  Pennsylvania  and  New  York  which  I  did. 
I  had  parties  near  here  at  that  time  watch  this  point,  and  when  the 
Idaho  Central  R.R.  was  located  here  I  came  on,  took  up  800  acres 
of  land  and  own  some  of  the  town  site.  I  am  the  manager  and  one 
of  the  owners  of  the  artesian  well,  I  have  a  letter  from  Mr. 
Adams  asking  me  to  give  the  image  to  Harvard,  but  have  not  yet 
decided  what  I  shall  do. 

Thank  you  for  your  kindness  in  sending  "The  Independent"  con 
taining  your  article.  If  you  wish  to  send  some  person  here  I  shall 
take  pleasure  in  giving  him  all  information  possible  and  he  might 
find  something  of  importance  in  the  large  pile  of  sand  that  still 
remains  at  the  well. 

As  ever,  very  sincerely  yours, 

M.  A.  KURTZ. 


Wright.]  437  [Jan.  1, 

Nampa,  Nov.  30,  1889. 
PROF.  G.  F.  WRIGHT, 
Oberlin,  Ohio. 

DEAR  SIR: 

Your  letter  of  the  twenty-fifth  inst.  at  hand.  We  commenced 
work  at  7  A.  M.  and  the  sand  pump  made  a  trip  every  six  or  eight 
minutes.  Our  sand  pump  is  about  eight  feet  in  length  and  is  worked 
very  rapidly  by  steam. 

The  suction  valve  is  attached  to  two  steel  rods,  attached  to  a 
bent  rod  of  steel  at  the  top,  the  whole  forming  what  is  called  jars. 
Now  the  valve  fits  and  works  so  nicely  on  the  inside  of  the  pump 
that  if  you  were  to  throw  a  pin  in  it  while  at  rest,  the  quick  and 
sudden  raising  of  the  jars  would  throw  it  out  at  the  top,  and  if 
the  image  had  been  thrown  in  as  you  suggest,  it  would  have 
bounded  out  at  the  top,  in  good  shape.  The  only  other  possible 
way  would  have  been  for  the  helper  to  have  put  it  in  after  he  had 
emptied  the  pump,  and  the  only  result  would  have  been  that  on 
the  descent  of  the  jars,  the  valve  would  have  knocked  the  image 
into  pieces.  I  hope  you  may  understand  what  I  mean. 

No  clay  balls  of  any  kind  are  found  on  the  surface  here.  We 
went  through  them  for  a  distance  of  twenty-five  feet  before  getting 
the  image  and  brought  a  great  many  to  the  surface  in  all  sorts  of 
shapes,  many  of  them  being  cut  by  the  driving  of  the  pipe.  Will 
be  pleased  to  see  you  here  at  any  time.  Now  is  as  good  as  any 
time  of  the  year.  Our  winters  are  very  mild.  Please  return 
"image,"  etc.,  as  soon  as  convenient. 

Yours  truly, 

M.  A.  KURTZ. 

The  following  is  the  letter  of  Mr.  Gumming,  in  reply  to  one  of 
my  own. 

Green  River,  Wyoming.  Dec.  2,  1889. 
DEAR  SIR  : 

Your  letter  of  the  25th  ult.  has  been  forwarded  to  me  here 
from  Salt  Lake  City. 

I  appreciate  the  importance  of  weighing  the  evidence  carefully 
before  accepting  the  Nampa  image  as  genuine,  and  I  understand 
of  course  that  a  discovery  of  this  sort  is  so  extraordinary  that  one 
is  reluctant  to  accept  even  the  strongest  circumstantial  (indirect) 
evidence  as  conclusive. 


1890.]  438  [Wright. 

As  I  was  not  present  when  the  image  is  said  to  have  been  dis 
covered,  my  own  evidence  is  of  no  value  whatever  except  as  to 
the  character  and  intelligence  of  Messrs.  Kurtz  and  Duffes.  I  have 
known  these  gentlemen  for  some  time  and  in  the  case  of  Mr. 
Kurtz  for  several  years.  They  are  intelligent  and  well-informed 
men  of  the  highest  character  and  no  one  of  their  acquaintance 
would  hesitate  for  a  moment  to  accept  and  believe  their  testimony 
on  any  question  of  business.  In  the  case  of  the  Nampa  image, 
they  would  have  no  motive  to  mislead  the  public,  even  if  they 
were  willing  to  do  so,  unless  the}''  were  seeking  a  cheap  notoriety 
or  wished  to  play  a  practical  joke.  From  my  knowledge  of  these 
gentlemen,  however,  I  cannot  believe  that  they  would  lend  them 
selves  to  a  fraud  of  any  kind,  even  by  way  of  jest,  and  I  think 
you  may  safely  rely  upon  their  statements  as  being  correct  in  all 
respects. 

The  only  other  evidence  which  I  can  furnish  on  the  subject  is 
wholly  circumstantial  and  that  has  already  been  communicated  to 
you. 

In  conclusion  I  may  say  that  Messrs.  Kurtz  and  Duffes  exhib 
ited  the  image  to  me  at  Nampa  on  the  day  after  its  alleged  dis 
covery  and  their  manner  and  actions  at  that  time  convinced  me 
that  their  statement,  however  incredible  it  might  seem,  was  neither 
a  joke  nor  a  fraud. 

So  far  as  my  own  opinion  is  concerned,  I  am  prepared  to  ac 
cept  the  image  as  what  it  purports  to  be,  namely,  as  having  been 
found  at  a  depth  of  more  than  three  hundred  feet  beneath  the  lava 
beds  of  the  Snake  River  valley. 

I  remain,  very  respectfully  yours, 

G.  M.  GUMMING. 

G.  FREDERICK  WRIGHT,  D.D.,  LL.D., 
Oberlin,  Ohio. 

The  only  other  letter  of  Mr.  Kurtz  which  it  is  necessary  to  sub 
mit  is  dated  Dec.  17,  1889. 

Nampa,  Idaho  Ter.,  Dec.  17,  1889. 
PROF.  G.  F.  WRIGHT. 
DEAR  SIR  : 

In  reply  to  yours  of  the  thirteenth  inst.  would  say :  First,  af- 
terawe  reached  the  depth  of  sixty  feet  we  struck  water  and  it  has 


Wright.]  439  [Jan.  1, 

remained  at  that  distance  from  the  top  of  the  well,  except  when  it 
was  shut  off  fora  short  time  as  we  went  through  the  clay  beds. 

Second.  We  purchased  the  entire  well-boring  outfit  new  at 
Utica,  N.  Y. 

Third.  The  engineer's  name  is  H.  Grumbling,  a  Pennsylvania!!, 
who  has  sunk  a  good  many  oil  wells  in  Pennsylvania.  He  lives 
here,  but  is  now  employed  at  Boise  City.  The  helper's  name  I 
do  not  know.  He  was  a  common  laborer  who  had  been  work 
ing  on  an  irrigating  ditch.  I  do  not  know  where  he  is  now. 

Fourth.  The  engineer  is  a  capable  man  in  his  line.  You  ask  if 
he  would  have  been  capable  of  making  an  image  of  this  sort.  He 
might  if  his  attention  had  been  called  to  the  matter,  if  he  had 
had  a  model  and  if  he  had  known  the  clay  from  the  small  balls 
would  have  made  such  an  image,  and  had  he  had  some  unobserved 
place  to  have  made  and  burned  it,  but  I  think  not. 

The  helper  would  not  have  been  capable  of  the  thought  or  the 
execution. 

Fifth.  My  recollection  is  that  we  found  the  clay  balls  the  day 
before  we  found  the  image.  The  largest  I  took  to  my  home.  I 
did  the  cutting  on  the  largest  one  myself. 

Sixth.  A  letter  directed  to  H.  Grumbling  here  or  at  Boise  City 
would  reach  him  at  any  time.  If  I  could  have  a  few  minutes'  con 
versation  with  you  I  could  explain  the  matter  to  your  satisfac 
tion  ;  also  why  I  cannot  afford  to  give  the  image  to  Harvard  or  to 
any  institution  at  present. 

As  ever,  very  truly  yours, 

M.  A.  KURTZ. 

The  image  was  in  my  own  hands  nearly  three  months  in  all,  so 
that  we  had  ample  opportunity  to  examine  it.  I  placed  it  in  the 
hands  of  my  associate  Albert  A.  Wright,  professor  of  natural 
history  at  Oberlin  and  a  most  skilful  and  careful  observer.  I  sub 
mit  his  report  which  you  will  perceive  is  perfectly  unbiassed.  It 
was  also  carefully  examined  by  F.  F.  Jewett,  professor  of  chemis 
try,  and  I  submit  their  opinions. 

AN  EXAMINATION  OF  THE    NAMPA  IMAGE. 

BY  ALBBHT  ALLEN  WKIGIIT. 

Professor  G.  F.  Wright  has  submitted  to  me,  for  examination, 
the  little  image  from  Nampa,  Idaho,  which  is  said  to  have  been 


440  [Wright. 

pumped  up  from  an  artesian  boring.     The  results  of  my  examina 
tion  are  given  herewith. 

I  must  premise  that  in  order  to  make  the  report  as  definite  as 
is  desirable,  it  will  be  necessary  to  mention  some  details  which  can 
not  be  fulty  appreciated  without  an  inspection  of  the  objects  dis 
cussed. 

DIMENSIONS. 

The  total  height  of  the  image  is  just  one  and  one-half  inches 
(1.5)=48  mm.     A  few  other  measurements  are  : 
Width  at  the  shoulders      .       .  .         .         0.54'  (in.)  =  14  mm. 

Width  at  the  hips          .         .         .         .     0.43'  =  11  mm. 

Thickness  of  body,  breast  to  back     .         0.25'  =  6.5  mm. 

Thickness  at  hips           .         .,        .         .     0.35'  —     9mm. 

Width  of  head  .         .     ,   .        ...        0.80'  =  7.5  mm. 

SHAPE,  FEATURES,  ETC. 

It  represents  a  human  body ;  and  from  the  slight  depression  be 
tween  the  breasts  it  is  evident  that  a  female  figure  is  intended. 

As  to  the  quality  of  the  modelling,  it  may  be  said  that,  with  the 
exception  of  the  head,  the  general  proportions  of  the  body  are 
harmonious,  showing  a  good  degree  of  approach  to  a  correct 
model.  The  work  upon  the  back  side  of  the  body  is  especially 
good,  and  the  natural  bending  of  the  arms  at  the  elbows,  together 
with  the  easy  manner  in  which  they  rest  at  the  side  of  the  hips, 
make  the  nearest  approach  to  an  artistic  touch.  It  could  not 
have  been  the  work  of  any  child  or  mere  novice.  The  surface  is 
not  smoothed  nor  polished,  but  is,  for  the  most  part,  of  a  rough, 
granular  nature.  The  strokes  of  the  graving  tool  can  be  easily 
recognized  in  many  places,  and  the  whole  gives  the  impression  at 
once,  that  it  was  moulded  from  clay,  the  work  having  stopped 
as  soon  as  the  principal  parts  of  the  body  were  outlined.  There 
are  no.  hands  nor  feet,  and  I  think  there  never  were  any.  The 
left  leg  is  preserved  in  nearly  its  whole  length,  while  the  right  leg 
is  missing  from  a  point  above  the  knee.  Neither  of  these  was 
broken  at  the  extremity  by  any  recent  fracture.  If  the  short  leg 
was  ever  of  equal  length  with  the  other,  it  was  broken  and  rounded 
before  it  came  up  from  the  well.  The  head  is  large  and  pushed 
to  one  side.  It  was  never  carved  into  any  good  shape.  There 
are  three  rude  depressions  upon  the  face,  suggesting  the  eye-or 
bits  and  mouth. 
3 


Wright.]  441  [Jan.  1, 

COLOR. 

The  general  color  of  the  image  is  a  fulvous  or  reddish  brown. 
The  departures  from  this  general  color  are  in  two  different  direc 
tions. — First,  to  a  deeper  reddish  upon  the  back  side  of  the  body, 
and  upon  the  left  arm.  Upon  the  top  of  the  head  also  there  is  a 
distinct  layer  of  darker  rusty  color,  in  which  some  grains  of  quartz 
are  imbedded.  Secondly,  some  parts  have  a  blackish  or  smoked 
appearance.  This  is  seen  upon  the  leg,  thigh  and  breast. 

The  color  of  the  interior  of  the  image  has  been  revealed  by  ac 
cidental  fractures  of  the  neck  and  of  the  longer  leg  since  it  was 
taken  from  the  well.  It  is  a  yellowish  fulvous,  quite  uniform,  and 
distinctly  lighter  than  the  exterior.  It  is  precisely  the  color  now 
presented  by  the  face  of  the  image ;  from  which  fact  I  am  confi 
dent  that  the  face  has  been  recarved  recently,  after  the  image 
was  first  finished,  and  before  it  came  into  my  hands  for  examina 
tion.  I  scarcely  need  to  say  that  while  the  object  was  in  my  pos 
session,  no  reagent  nor  test  nor  tool  was  applied  to  it,  which  could 
in  the  slightest  degree  affect  its  color  or  external  appearance. 

The  interior  color  of  the  short  leg  differs  from  that  of  the  body, 
in  being  of  a  distinct  dark  gray,  without  any  of  the  fulvous  ele 
ment.  I  think  I  shall  be  able  to  account  for  this  difference  of  col 
or  in  a  later  part  of  this  report. 

THE  MATERIAL  :       WAS  IT  RIGID,  OR  PLASTIC? 

The  image  was  moulded  out  of  a  plastic,  gritty  clay,  and  af 
terwards  burned  in  a  fire. 

The  evidence  for  the  previous  plasticity  of  the  material  is  so 
strong,  that  I  am  confident  that  any  who  have  come  to  a  contra 
ry  opinion,  as,  for  example,  that  it  was  carved  from  a  tufaceous 
or  pumiceous  rock  would,  if  they  could  have  the  ample  opportuni 
ties  for  examination  which  have  been  accorded  to  me,  recall  that 
conclusion.  A  detailed  study  of  the  surface  will  show  that  the 
graving  tool  sometimes  took  long,  sweeping  strokes,  leaving  a 
plane  surface  with  sharply  defined  margins.  Moreover,  the  di 
rection  of  the  strokes  can,  in  some  instances,  be  determined  by 
the  transverse,  minute  crevasses  left  in  the  substance  under  the  tool, 
such  as  one  sees  when  a  glazier  spreads  his  putty.  Thus,  the 
strokes  in  the  crevice  between  the  right  arm  and  the  body,  on  the 
front  side,  were  downward,  while  those  in  the  corresponding  crev 
ice  on  the  left  side  were  upward. 


1890.]  442  [Wright. 

Again,  we  know  that  whenever  a  pointed  stylus  or  tool  is 
drawn  along  a  plastic  surface,  so  as  to  plow  a  furrow  in  that  sur 
face,  the  material  upon  each  side  of  the  furrow  will  be  thrown  up 
into  an  elevated  ridge,  and  if  the  substance  is  gritty,  the  ridges 
will  have  a  ragged  summit.  There  are  many  such  ragged-topped 
ridges  along  the  margins  of  the  strokes  upon  this  image,  espec 
ially  in  the  protected  hollows,  where  some  of  them  are  as  sharp 
and  distinct  as  if  freshly  made. 

And  still  again,  there  are  certain  excavated,  V-shaped  troughs 
or  grooves  between  the  members  of  the  body,  as  between  the  arms 
and  the  trunk,  which  had  once  been  moulded  into  final  form  ;  but 
into  these  excavations  there  were  afterwards  pushed  out,  by  mala 
droit  strokes  of  the  tool,  ridges  of  the  material  which  partially 
roofed  over  the  cavity,  yet  leaving  the  original  excavation  under 
neath  plainly  discernible.  To  specify,  this  may  be  seen  in  the 
grooves  behind  the  right  arm,  both  forearm  and  upper-arm,  and  in 
the  space  between  the  lower  limbs.  It  is  a  disposition  of  material 
that  could  not  have  been  left  in  a  brittle  substance.  Finally,  there 
are  some  cuts  left  by  the  tool,  so  sharp  and  clean  and  deep,  as  to 
demonstrate  that  the  material  was  not  brittle,  but  which  at  the 
same  time  give  us  a  record  of  the  exact  dimensions  of  the  tool  that 
was  used.  At  the  junction  of  the  limbs  there  is  one  such  stroke, 
which  left  a  gash  only  one  seventy-fifth  of  an  inch  wide,  by  meas 
urement,  though  many  times  as  deep  and  long.  The  margins  are 
perfectly  sharp  and  parallel  and  smooth,  and  show  that  some  tool, 
like  a  knife  blade  or  piece  of  tin,  must  have  been  used.  The  crev 
ice  will  just  admit  a  thin  knife  blade. 

I  regard  the  external  markings,  therefore,  as  sufficient  to  show 
the  original  plasticity  of  the  material,  but  it  will  be  seen  that  all 
the  subsequent  steps  of  the  examination  also  confirm  this  theory. 

MICROSCOPIC    EXAMINATION   OP   THE   MATERIAL. 

The  unaided  eye  readily,  distinguishes  two  elements  in  the  mate 
rial  of  the  image.  The  first  is  the  fine-grained,  homogeneous,  ful 
vous  powder  that  constitutes  the  principal  part  of  the  whole.  By 
a  little  boring  with  a  knife  blade  at  the  fracture  of  the  leg,  this 
material  was  found  to  break  down  with  greater  facility  than  would 
be  experienced  with  an  ordinary  red  brick.  The  tenacity  of  the 
material  is  not  great.  The  powder  was  too  fine  to  be  called  sand 
and  yet  not  so  fine  as  the  elements  of  porcelain  clay.  When  moist- 


Wright.]  443  IJan.  1, 

ened,  the  particles  adhered  together  with  much  less  tenacity  than 
is  seen  in  the  common,  sticky  drift  clays,  yet  there  was  enough  ad 
hesion  to  form  a  plastic  mass. 

The  second  element  in  the  material  consisted  of  grains  of  quartz 
and  possibly  of  other  minerals,  scattered  at  random  through  the 
finer  substance.  In  size,  these  will  measure  from  one-sixteenth  to 
one  thirty-second  of  an  inch  and  smaller.  They  are  sufficiently 
numerous  to  make  the  whole  material  gritty  and  to  account  for  the 
roughness  of  some  of  the  tool- work.  Many  of  these  come  just  to 
the  surface  of  the  body,  as,  for  example,  three  on  the  back  between 
the  shoulders,  three  or  four  on  the  inner  side  of  the  left  leg,  and 
one  on  the  front  of  the  arm  at  the  right  shoulder.  Upon  the  right 
hip  is  one  that  projects  a  little,  not  having  been  sufficiently  pressed 
down  by  the  moulding  tool.  One  was  taken  from  the  interior  of 
the  leg,  at  a  point  of  fracture,  and  the  rough  summit  of  the  head  is 
liberally  supplied  with  them.  The  loose  grains  which  are  lodged 
in  the  crevice  between  the  right  arm  and  the  body,  and  which  are 
shown  in  the  photographs  and  engravings  of  the  image,  are  of  the 
same  sort.  These  grains  were,  in  my  opinion,  not  accretions  from 
without,  cemented  there  by  the  slow  deposit  of  ferric  oxide,  but 
were  constituents  of  the  original  material,  thrown  out  by  the  point 
of  the  graving  tool  and  left  where  they  are,  either  by  accident  or 
design. 

The  material  of  the  image  was  so  friable  that  it  would  have  been 
well  nigh  impossible  to  make  a  thin  section  for  microscopic  exam 
ination.  It  was  not  attempted,  and  it  would  have  been  of  no  value 
unless  the  image  were  carved  from  a  piece  of  rock.  Samples  of 
the  finer  material  of  the  image,  however,  in  the  form  of  powder, 
were  mounted  in  balsam  and  submitted  to  optical  examination. 
The  object  in  view  was  to  obtain  a  clew  as  to  the  source  whence 
the  material  of  the  image  was  derived.  The  microscopical  exami 
nation  was  not  made  thoroughly  exhaustive  because,  before  it  was 
finished,  other  satisfactory  evidence  on  this  point  came  in.  Still, 
the  principal  elements  of  the  powder  were  determined,  as  follows : 

First,  and  most  prominent,  constituting  more  than  half  of  the 
material,  quartz,  in  brilliant,  sharp-angled  fragments.  The  colors 
upon  revolution  between  crossed  nicols  were  frequently  from  bril 
liant  blue  to  yellow,  but  for  the  most  part  they  brightened  only  in 
to  a  cold  gray.  Quite  a  number  of  the  larger  grains  were  sketched 
in  outline  with  a  camera  and  measured,  the  average  mean  diame- 


1890.]  444  [Wright. 

ter  being  three  one-thousandths  of  an  inch  (0.003  inch)  =  7G.2  /* 
(mikrons). 

Second,  red-brown  scales  of  biotite,  smaller  than  the  quartz 
scales,  averaging  about  two  one-thousandths  of  an  inch  (0.0019 
inch)  =  48.26  jy.  (mikrons)  in  diameter.  The  hexagonal  angles  are 
frequently  distinct,  though  usually  the  margins  are  ragged.  Al 
though  the  flakes  must  all  have  been  basal  cleavages,  nearly  half 
of  them  showed  some  alterations  between  crossed  nicols. 

Third.  Small  and  large  colorless  flakes,  always  appearing  iso- 
trope,  some  of  them,  possibly,  of  a  volcanic,  glassy  nature,  others 
showing  a  few  sharp  angles  of  60  degrees  and  120  degrees,  doubt 
less  muscovite. 

Fourth.  Opaque,  red-brown  flakes  and  aggregations  of  ferric  ox 
ide,  showing  gradations  from  a  powdery  ochre  up  towards  scales 
of  biotite,  from  which  they  were  undoubtedly  derived. 

Fifth.  Very  fine-grained  material,  having  no  distinct  optical 
characters.  In  the  dry  powder  it  forms  aggregations  of  a  whitish 
color.  It  is,  doubtless,  kaolinic  and  forms  the  cement  for  the  whole 
image. 

Nothing  was  detected  which  seemed  to  be  of  the  nature  of  veg 
etable  tissue. 

The  above  analysis  suggests  at  once,  in  fact,  practically  proves, 
that  the  material,  as  a  whole,  consists  of  the  finer  elements  result 
ing  from  the  breaking  up  of  granitoid  rocks. 

SOURCE    OF    THE    MATERIAL. 

Upon  application  to  the  parties  who  discovered  the  image,  sam 
ples  were  obtained:  (1)  of  the  surface  soil  in  the  vicinity  of  the 
well ;  (2)  of  the  sand  from  various  depths  in  the  well,  taken,  how 
ever,  from  the  dump  heap  where  it  had  lain  for  three  months ;  (3) 
of  the  lava  rock,  taken  from  an  adjacent  well ;  and  (4)  of  clay  balls 
which  were  said  to  have  been  first  encountered  at  twenty  feet  above 
the  depth  at  which  the  image  was  found. 

All  of  these  have  been  examined  to  see  if  any  of  them  could 
have  furnished  the  material  for  the  image.  The  surface  soil  will 
not  make  a  clay  that  can  be  worked,  and  when  burnt  it  falls  to 
powder.  The  sand  and  the  lava  are  also  out  of  the  question.  It 
should  be  remarked,  however,  that  the  sand  is  a  clean,  whitish-yel 
low  sand,  containing  some  mica  scales  and  gravel,  and  is  also  of 
granitoid  origin.  The  clay  balls  fit  the  case  precisely,  and  I  am 


Wright.]  445  [Jan.  1, 

satisfied  that  it  was  one  of  these,  or  at  any  rate  clay  of  identical 
composition,  from  which  the  image  was  moulded.  Under  the  mi 
croscope  they  show  precisely  the  same  elements  that  were  detected 
in  the  image,  and  they  form,  when  moistened,  a  plastic  material 
that  can  be  moulded. 

The  clay-balls  are  in  themselves  of  much  interest  as  a  geological 
phenomenon.  The  interior  of  each  ball  is  very  different  from  the 
exterior.  The  interior  is  nearly  white  and  very  fine-grained,  while 
the  exterior  is  covered  witli  coarse  sand  embedded  in  rusty-brown 
material.  The  largest  specimen,  which  was  four  inches  in  diame 
ter,  exhibits  upon  cross  section  a  series  of  concentric  rusty  rings, 
from  one-eighth  to  one-sixteenth  of  an  inch  apart,  thus  showing 
that  it  is  composed  of  a  series  of  concentric  layers  and  was  formed 
upon  the  concretionary  principle,  like  the  nodular  iron  ore  of  the 
coal  measures.  The  interior  of  the  balls  furnished  the  finer  ele 
ments  of  the  image,  while  the  coarse  quartz  grains  came  from  the 
exterior,  the  two  being  mixed  together  in  the  hands  of  the  artisan. 

The  material  of  the  clay  balls,  when  subjected  to  heat,  was  found 
to  undergo  rather  complicated  changes  of  color.  Moderate  heat 
blackens  the  exterior  without  greatly  changing  the  interior,  as  if 
organic  matter  were  present.  Stronger  heat  develops  the  reddish 
or  fulvous  color,  both  internally  and  externally.  Yet,  unless  the 
strongest  heat  is  at  the  same  time  strongly  oxidizing,  the  result 
will  be  a  dark  gray.  If  the  flame  of  a  Bunsen  gas  burner  is  al 
lowed  to  play  upon  a  piece,  the  portion  that  was  in  the  centre  of 
the  flame  will  be  left  gray,  while  only  the  outer  portions  will  be 
reddened.  It  is  thus  very  difficult  to  produce  a  uniform  reddish 
color  over  the  entire  surface  of  a  moulded  specimen.  .These  facts 
will,  I  think,  account  for  the  different  shades  of  color  observable 
upon  the  surface  of  the  Nampa  image,  to  which  previous  allusion 
has  been  made.  The  dark  gray  at  the  end  of  the  shorter  leg  is 
due  to  a  lack  of  oxygen  at  the  time  of  burning,  and  the  distribu 
tion  of  black  and  red  was  due  to  the  inequalities  of  the  flame. 

A    DUPLICATE    OF   THE    IMAGE. 

Having  proceeded  thus  far  with  the  investigation,  it  was  natural 
to  go  a  step  farther  and  see  if  the  image  could  not  be  reproduced 
in  all  its  essential  features.  A  clay-ball  with  a  liberal  coating  of 
sand  was  selected,  crushed  together  in  a  mortar,  moistened  into  a 
putty  and  moulded  with  a  knife-blade  into  some  similarity  of  form 


1890.]  446  [Wright. 

to  the  original.  In  the  process  of  moulding  it  was  discovered  that 
all  the  exposed  parts  of  the  body  inevitabty  became  smoothed  and 
rounded  by  the  touch  of  the  fingers  in  holding  it,  so  that  only  the 
hollows  and  crevices  retained  the  marks  of  the  tool  in  all  their 
sharpness.  It  was  also  seen  that  the  gritty  material  had  consid 
erable  tendency  to  adhere  to  the  graving  tool,  so  that  loose  sand 
grains  and  rough  ridges  were  left  along  the  strokes. 

The  burning  of  the  image  was  accomplished  in  a  porcelain  dish, 
heated  from  beneath  by  a  Bunsen  burner,  so  that  the  flame  did  not 
come  in  contact  with  the  material.  The  gradual  steps  of  its  ev 
olution,  through  Ethiopian  blackness  toward  Indian  red,  were  ob 
served,  but  the  process  ceased  before  a  suitable  redness  was  pro 
duced.  The  object  was  then  supported  upon  a  wire  gauze  and 
the  flame  allowed  to  play  through  the  gauze,  directly  upon  it. 
Some  improvement  was  obtained  in  this  manner.  But  finally,  cer 
tain  parts,  which  retained  too  much  blackness,  were  brightened 
up  by  the  oxidizing  flame  of  a  mouth  blowpipe  and  the  result  is 
what  may  be  seen  in  the  object  as  it  now  appears. 

This  is  the  only  attempt  that  was  made,  and  I  may  say  that  the 
success  of  the  imitation  was  far  beyond  my  anticipations.  The 
general  tone  and  variations  of  color  in  the  two  are  exceedingly 
similar.  Whether  viewed  by  the  unaided  eye,  or  examined  with 
a  Coddington  lens,  nearly  ever}7  surface  feature  of  the  one  is  re 
produced  in  the  other.  There  is  a  larger  supply  of  quartz  and 
mica  grains  in  the  duplicate  than  in  the  original,  but  this  depends, 
of  course,  upon  an  arbitrary  selection  of  materials  at  the  begin 
ning.  The  interior  color  of  the  two  is  precisely  the  same  and  the 
tenacity  of  the  material  is  also  identical.  The  duplicate  has  suf 
fered  the  accident  of  having  its  head  broken  off,  so  that  an  oppor 
tunity  was  afforded  of  comparing  the  two  side  by  side.  The  com 
parison  has  been  made  by  a  large  number  of  persons,  professors 
in  Oberlin  College,  and  others. 

There  is  only  one  point,  which  seems  of  any  importance,  in 
which  the  duplicate  fails  to  reproduce  the  original,  and  that  is  a 
superior  tint  of  redness  at  one  or  two  points  upon  the  surface  of 
the  original,  notably  upon  the  back,  and  at  the  left  hand.  This 
raises  the  question  whether  the  extremer  tint  in  the  original  may 
not  be  due  to  a  slow  deposit  of  iron  rust  from  external,  or  even 
internal  sources,  and  thus  furnish  evidence  of  its  antiquity.  To 
this  it  may  be  replied  that  the  extremer  color  can  be  obtained  by 


Wright.]  447  [Jan.  1, 

using  a  few  drops  of  hydrochloric  acid  upon  the  clay,  and  the  re 
heating.  Even  deeper  tints  than  are  seen  in  the  original  can  thus 
be  secured.  This  process  has  not  been  tried  upon  the  duplicate 
image,  but  has  been  upon  other  portions  of  the  same  material,  not, 
however,  until  after  the  original  had  been  returned  to  its  owner, 
so  that  exact  comparisons  have  been,  as  yet,  impossible,  or,  it  may 
be  said  that  the  extreme  color  may  be  due  to  a  different  selection 
of  materials,  including  more  iron  oxide,  for  example,  or,  to  some 
accidental  feature  in  the  process  of  burning.  In  none  of  my  own 
experiments,  however,  has  that  apparent  tint  been  obtained,  ex 
cepting  by  the  use  of  an  acid. 

IS  THE  IMAGE  AN  ANCIENT  ONE  ? 

Without  entering  at  all  upon  the  other  lines  of  evidence  which 
bear  upon  the  theory  of  the  antiquity  of  the  image,  I  have  only 
to  state  in  conclusion,  that  I  have  not  been  able  to  find,  in  this 
examination,  anything  that  is  satisfactory  in  confirmation  of  such 
a  theory.  If  the  image  is  really  older  than  the  three  hundred 
feet  of  sedimentary  and  volcanic  deposits  under  which  it  was 
buried,  its  age  must  at  least  be  many  hundreds,  and  probably 
many  thousands  of  years.  While  it  would  be  difficult,  even  if  all 
the  chemical  conditions  were  known,  to  tell  beforehand  what  the 
effects  of  such  protracted  burial  might  be,  we  should  still  expect 
that  some  tangible  evidence  would  appear.  As  to  the  proper  in 
terpretation  of  the  characters  which  the  image  does  present,  we 
might  well  be  uncertain,  so  long  as  there  was  no  standard  with 
which  to  compare  it.  But  when  we  find  that  it  is  possible  in  a 
few  hours  to  produce  a  duplicate  which  exhibits  all  the  external 
and  internal  characters  of  the  original,  there  is  nothing  left  in  the 
image  itself  to  sustain  the  theory  of  its  antiquity.  Whoever  com 
pares  the  two  will  see  that  the  tool  marks  are  as  distinct  and  fresh 
in  the  original  as  in  the  duplicate.  He  will  see  the  same  corroded 
surface  on  the  duplicate  as  on  the  original.  The  interior  tenac 
ity,  composition  and  color  are  the  same  in  both.  The  variations 
in  the  external  color  have  been  fully  set  forth. 

While  therefore  it  would  be  a  great  pleasure  to  be  able  to  con 
firm  the  evidence  of  its  antiquity  brought  forward  from  other  sources 
by  my  friend  and  co-laborer  Professor  G.  F.  Wright,  I  am  still 
compelled  to  say  that  I  can  find  no  satisfactory  marks  of  the  tooth 
of  time  upon  it. 


1890.]  448  [Wright. 

Oberlin,  0.,  Dec.  25,  1889. 
PROF.  G.  F.  WRIGHT. 
DEAR  SIR  : 

A  careful  examination  of  the  Nampa  image,  and  experiments 
made  upon  clay  taken  from  the  same  well,  lead  me  to  the  con 
clusion  that  the  image  must  be  of  considerable  age.  I  cannot 
account  for  the  accumulation  of  the  oxide  of  iron  upon  the  grains 
of  sand,  lying  between  the  body  of  the  image  and  its  arms,  except 
by  supposing  it  to  have  been  the  result  of  the  slow  decomposition 
of  substances  containing  iron,  in  its  immediate  vicinity.  Although 
I  have  been  able  to  reproduce  the  color  of  this  oxide  tolerably 
well  by  heating  clay  coated  with  a  solution  of  iron  chloride,  yet 
I  have  not  been  able  to  reproduce  it  by  simply  heating  clay  to  dif- 
ferent'degrees  of  temperature. 

Yours  truly, 

F.  F.  JEWETT. 

In  conclusion  I  would  say  that  the  direct  evidence  in  the  case 
seems  to  be  of  as  high  order  as  could  well  be  obtained.  The  char 
acter  of  Mr.  Kurtz  and  of  Mr.  Duffes  is  amply  vouched  for,  not 
only  byJMr.  Gumming,  but  by  other  parties  whom  I  have  met  who 
personally  know  them.  The  whole  appearance  of  Mr.  Kurtz's  let 
ters  show  him  to  be  a  genuine  man.  There  was  no  sensational 
publication  in  the  papers,  nor  has  there  been  any  suggestion  of 
mercenary  motives.  There  were  no  archaeologists  or  scientific 
men  on  the  ground  to  be  humbugged.  Apparently  the  image  would 
have  disappeared  and  dropped  out  of  notice  but  for  the  fortunate 
chance  which  brought  it  to  the  attention  of  Mr.  Adams,  when  his 
own  mind  was  interested  in  that  class  of  subjects.  The  evidence 
is  most  direct  as  to  the  impossibility  of  the  image's  having  fallen 
into  the  well  from  the  surface,  or  of  its  having  been  put  in  by  de 
sign. 

Professor  A.  A.  Wright's  examination,  it  is  true,  is  not  of  itself 
conclusive  as  to  age,  but  there  is  nothing  in  it  bearing  indubitably 
against  its  age  ;  while  the  similarity  of  the  material  composing  the 
image  and  that  composing  the  clay  balls,  seem  to  me  strongly  con 
firmatory  of  the  genuineness.  I  also  attach  much  weight  to  Pro 
fessor  Jewett's  opinion  as  to  the  character  of  the  iron  oxide  upon 
the  original  image.  It  seems  in  the  highest  degree  improbable 
that  anyone  should  have  manufactured  such  an  object  on  the  spot, 
and  have  been  so  successful  in  meeting  all  the  conditions  present.  I 
4 


Wright.]  449  [Jan.  1, 

am  therefore  prepared  to  accept  without  further  question  the  gen 
uineness  of  the  image,  and  shall  look  for  further  confirmation  as 
time  elapses. 

NOTE. — Since  the  meeting  of  the  society  a  letter  has  been  re 
ceived  from  the  engineer,  H.  B.  Grumbley  (the  only  other  person 
from  whom  information  could  be  obtained),  who  says,  "  I  was  pres 
ent  at  the  finding  of  the  image.  Circumstances  were  such  that 
there  could  have  been  no  mistake.  I  don't  think  there  was  any 
chance  for  the  helper  to  have  placed  it  in  the  sand,  nor  do  I  think 
he  was  capable  of  so  doing." 

President  Putnam  spoke  of  the  evidences  of  the  age  of  the  image 
as  shown  by  the  deposit  of  oxide  of  iron  on  parts  of  the  image, 
particularly  the  cementing  of  quartz  grains  by  the  iron  under  the 
right  arm,  which  he  considered,  as  extraneous  and  not  as  particles 
pushed  out  in  carving  that  part. 

Prof.  E.  S.  Morse  made  some  general  remarks  on  the  antiquity 
of  man. 

Mr.  S.  H.  Scudder  spoke  of  errors  liable  to  occur  in  mistaking 
natural  for  artificial  forms  and  exhibited  a  specimen  of  rock  forma 
tion  from  the  Silurian  which  had  a  remarkable  likeness  to  a  fossil 
beetle. 

Prof.  H.  W.  Haynes  said  that  he  regarded  the  Nampa  image  as 
a  most  important  evidence  of  the  great  antiquity  of  man  in  Amer 
ica.  He  presented  the  following  additional  documentary  evidence  : 

Boston,  November  6,  1889. 

MY  DEAR  MR.  HAYNES  : — Professor  Wright  sends  me  a  note  say 
ing  that  the  first  paper  will  be  read  on  the  subject  of  the  Kurtz 
image  before  the  Boston  Society  of  Natural  History  this  evening. 
He  wishes  something  said  in  relation  to  the  opportunities  enjoyed 
by  Mr.  Gumming  to  know  the  facts  both  about  the  discovery  and 
about  the  man  who  made  it. 

I  believe  Mr.  Gumming  has  been  personally  communicated  with 
on  this  subject,  I  can  only  say  of  Mr.  Gumming  that  I  should 
regard  his  evidence  in  this  matter  as  entitled  to  as  much  consider 
ation  as  the  evidence  of  any  scientific  man  would  be.  He  was  on 
the  spot  the  day  the  "find"  was  made,  and  his  estimate  of  it  would 
in  my  mind  carry  very  great  weight.  He  is,  as  you  are  aware,  not 


1890.]  450  [Wright. 

only  a  graduate  of  the  college,  but  he  was  educated  as  a  lawyer, 
passed  several  years  of  study  in  Europe,  and  is  a  man  of  the  high 
est  personal  character,  accustomed  to  weigh  evidence,  and  not 
likety  to  be  deceived. 

I  remain,  etc., 

CHARLES  F.  ADAMS. 
Adams  Building,  23  Court  Street. 


